1. Field of Invention
The invention pertains to pet accessories. More specifically, the invention pertains to a housing and the attachment of a pet accessory to an animal collar.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic pet accessories and training devices, such as a bark control device, a containment fence receiver, a remote trainer, a pet locator, and the like, are commonly used for providing information about an animal and/or for modifying the animal's behavior. Typically, these conventional pet accessories and training devices include a housing and a collar that are specifically made for one another. One type of conventional pet accessory includes a housing having collar brackets disposed on opposing sides of the housing which receive a particular collar having a specified thickness and width, such as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,233. Another type of conventional pet accessory includes a collar having a group of openings configured to be aligned with a threaded connector on the housing such that a portion of a probe extends through the opening and is received by the threaded connector thereby securing the collar between the housing and probe, such as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,589. In yet another type of conventional pet accessory, the housing is integrally molded and inseparable from the collar or the housing is configured to be secured to the collar and define a single piece, such as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 7,644,685 or U.S. Pat. No. 7,574,979. Thus, the collar for any of these conventional pet accessories is essentially non-interchangeable with animal collars of various sizes, lengths, widths, and thicknesses.